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FRANCIS B. DILLARD
Vol. 3, p. 1058, 1059

The firm of Dillard and Blake at Tulsa, with offices in the Central
National Bank Building, handle all the law business of the Texas
Company in Oklahoma, and also have a large general practice as
lawyers. Mr. Dillard represents the substantial old southern stock,
has been a practicing lawyer upwards of thirty years, and has been
identified with the three states of Georgia, Texas, and Oklahoma. In
ability and influential connections he ranks among the leaders of the
Oklahoma bar.

Francis B. Dillard was born at his grandfather's home at Auburn,
Alabama, April 30, 1861, a son of Col. Francis W. and Mary H. (SCOTT)
Dillard. His father was born in Columbus, Georgia, in 1823 and died
in February, 1865, at the age of forty-two. The mother was born in
Harris county, Georgia, in 1838 and died October 20, 1903. Of their
six children two died in infancy, and Francis B. was the fifth in
order of birth. His father was a cotton commission merchant at
Columbus, Georgia, under the firm name of Dillard-Powell Company
during the years before the outbreak of the war. In the war, though
incompasitated by reason of ill health fort field service, he did a
valuable part as a businessman in promoting the cause and
contributing to the resources of the Confederate government. He was a
personal friend as well as political supporter of President Jefferson
Davis. During the war he held the offices of quartermaster and
colonel and did much for the cause in organizing and preparing troops
for service.

In 1864 the gunboats of the Federal Government were present in large
numbers off the coast near Appalachicola, Florida, maintaining a
rigorous blockade, and it was feared that they would come up the
Chattahooehee River to Columbus and destroy the town. In this
critical situation Colonel Dillard bought up all the cotton he could
procure, loaded it on boats, and choosing a favorable opportunity ran
the blockade and succeeded in landing all his cargo in Liverpool. For
this cotton he received $800,000 in sterling exchange gold, and at
once reinvested a fourth of the proceeds, $200,000 in Confederate
government bonds, a sum of money which proved a great boon to the
government which was then in hard straits, both financially and
otherwise. These bonds were of course valueless after the war ended.
Colonel Dillard was a splendid representative of the old southern
aristocratic gentleman.

Francis B. Dillard was four years old when his father died. He
received his early education in the common schools of Alabama, was
graduated from the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama on
June 26, 1879, and the following six years were spent as a teacher in
Alabama. In September 1886, he located at Fort Gaines, Georgia, and
was engaged in the practice of law there until June 1893. He then
removed to Sherman, Texas, continued as a member of the bar in that
city until September 1, 1909, and this was the date of his coming to
Tulsa. At Tulsa he practiced under the firm name of KELLOUGH &
Dillard until August, 1911, after which he was alone for a time, and
in March, 1912, formed a co-partnership with Mr. BLAKE under the firm
name of Dillard and Blake. As already stated, this firm acts as
attorneys for the Texas Company and its allied interests in
connection with the oil producing industry in Oklahoma.

Mr. Dillard is a member of the Tulsa County and the Oklahoma State
Bar Association. During his residence at Sherman, Texas, he served
from 1898 to 1909 as referee in bankruptcy for nine counties of the
eastern district of Texas. Politically he is a democrat, is
affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and with Tulsa Lodge No. 946
of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, while his church is
the Methodist Episcopal, South.

On November 15, 1889, Mr. Dillard married Jimmie B. HATCHETT. She
was born in West Point, Georgia. Of their four children, Francis W.,
the oldest, was educated in the Agricultural and Mechanical College
of Texas, and in 1911 graduated from the law department of Cumberland
University at Lebanon, Tennessee, was engaged in the general practice
at Cleveland, Oklahoma, until 1914, and now has an office and
independent practice at Tulsa. The three youngest children are James
H., Ralph V., and Claire Beaty.

Typed for OKGenWeb by Janie Edwards, August 1999.